S. African firm to take over Ethio-Djibouti railway

A South African company, COMAZAR, has been selected to administer the 106-year-old railway line that runs from Addis Ababa to Djibouti, it was learned here on Sunday.

According to sources close to the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Company, COMAZAR will be authorized to operate the railway for the coming 25 years, defeating the Indian company RITE in a fierce bid battle.

The sources said the winner will be made public after the railway company's board of directors approves it, adding that further negotiations will be held between the board and COMAZAR.

Over the years, the 1,000-km railway was jointly managed by France (later Djibouti) and Ethiopia. In recent years, the railway failed to give efficient and effective services to travelers.

COMAZAR, founded in 1995, has been active in at least 15 African countries and has established relations and partnerships for more than 10 years with both African and international investors, as well as with commercial banks and international lenders.

Moeletsi, younger brother of Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, is director of COMAZAR, which rehabilitates and grants concessions to railway networks in sub-Saharan Africa. He is also deputy-chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Once administered by COMAZAR, the railway is expected to be equipped with modern technology that will enable it to provide efficient services to commuters and raise its current cargo capacity of 240,000 tons per year to 1.5 million tons per year.

In other developments, the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Company early this month made 153 Djiboutian employees redundant and lay off an additional 622 Ethiopian employees in a bid to pave the way for COMAZAR.

Source: Xinhua